Joseph Wright – Anglesey

November 2018

Pervert used Snapchat and Kik to try to lure ’13-year-old’ girl to meet him

A man has been jailed for trying to get a young girl to carry out sex acts over the internet – not realising he was actually talking to an undercover police officer.

Joseph Edward Wright thought he was talking to 13-year-old Morgan from Rhyl on the social media website, Kik.

After switching to Snapchat, another social media website, he asked the girl to meet him in Bangor and sent explicit photographs of himself.

The 29-year-old, of Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey, was jailed for three years and four months after admitting he attempted to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

Sentencing Judge Timothy Petts said the online conversation had led to police officers visiting his address and seizing computer equipment on which indecent images of children as young as a few months were found.

“You played your part in the perpetuation of the abuse of children. You are part of the market that keeps it going.

“The images, of children as young as few months old, are absolutely horrific.”

In addition to the jail term Wright was ordered to observe a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order and also sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Myles Wilson, prosecuting, said an undercover police officer set up a false profile on social media websites last October.

On October 25 the defendant contacted the profile of ‘Morgan’ and the conversation began innocently but the defendant changed the topic to a sexual one.

It led police officers to visit the defendants home two months later and seized computer equipment. An investigation led to the discovery of 131 indecent images of children and 17 videos.

Mr Wilson said 14 of the images and 12 videos were classed in Category A, the most serious kind.

Officers also found 999 prohibited images of children and 403 videos.

During an interview with officers Wright was said to have tried to downplay the offences claiming the conversations with the girl were “just for fun”.